Eliseo tugged the sleeves over his hands. “He was unfaithful, but the first time one of his…friends—” He spat the word with disgust. “—asked me to join them, Simeon killed him.”
Simeon had always been jealous. He wanted what everyone else had, but refused to share what he thought belonged to him.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Eliseo licked his lips. “I was furious. We fought, shouting and screaming. I told him he was a shitty mate and he…” A hand lifted to his right cheek, an indication of Simeon’s response. “He didn’t like me arguing, but thrived on it. He liked when we pushed and goaded. I guess I did too.”
“Hey.” Keon nudged a finger under Eliseo’s chin to hold eye contact. “Enjoying verbal sparring didn’t give him the right to hit you. Simeon was the most selfish person I’ve met, and nothing would have stopped him from getting what he wanted.”
Eliseo didn’t argue. Nothing he said would convince Keon otherwise. He knew Simeon. He’d taken Eliseo’s fire and snuffed it, because it suited him to have his mate cowed and broken.
“He wanted you broken,” he said to remind him Simeon wasn’t worth grieving. Though Eliseo hung his head in shame, Keon cradled his chin to lift his gaze. “The fact you’re standing here, that you survived him, proves he failed. As brutal as it sounds, you have a chance to move on.”
“I was lucky.” Eliseo took a surprising detour from what he expected. “The night he died, he planned one of his…parties…and wanted me to be shared,” he said, hinting but not saying it. “When I refused, he was angrier than I’d ever seen. He was about to hit me when I reminded him people were already suspicious about my last black eye. He promised when he returned, he would hurt me in a way no one would see.”
Swallowing, he tipped his head and blinked away a new onset of tears. “He never came home. He went on a raid and died, and…for the first time since we mated, I was happy.” Eliseo shook his head and tugged at his sleeves. “In the beginning, it was fun. He was exciting and unpredictable. As an Alpha, he was…stupid. As a mate, he was clueless. We worked hard, and he did try. In the end I wasn’t good enough, he wasn’t happy, and I came to hate him.”
Keon kissed Eliseo’s brow, smiling when the unexpected gesture broke the train of negativity and guilt. “Breathe for me,” he said, emulating the slow, deep breathing until Eliseo repeated it. “As Simeon’s mate, that makes you my brother, and you don’t need to explain. I hate knowing you suffered, but I’m glad parts were good. Hold on to them, because he can’t hurt you anymore, and you’ll torture yourself if you keep apologising for his behaviour or remembering the bad times.”
“If you’d been Alpha, I would have found the strength to refuse him.”
“I would have let you,” he swore, hating Simeon for making Eliseo feel guilty. “Simeon was an asshole, but he was your true mate and the bond is intense. I’m sorry you lost him and the bond you shared.”
Brushing at his tears, Eliseo nodded. “Honestly, I was afraid you’d come home and be like him. You’d been gone a long time and your brothers tortured you. We feared you’d try to emulate them.” Dropping his hands, he heaved a relieved sigh. “I can’t tell you how happy we are. You’re the same Keon who left us.”
Mother, he’d never heard anything more wonderful.
Keon pulled Eliseo in for another hug, wishing he’d saved him from Simeon. He wouldn’t have stopped them mating if Eliseo wanted it, but could have prevented Simeon from hurting him. Having worn his fair share of bruises from Simeon’s fists, he knew how brutal they were. They were young and innocent, victims of Simeon’s raw, reckless disregard for others.
“I’m sorry for what I did with Vega,” Eliseo whispered, holding on tight.
“It’s in the past,” Keon replied, refusing to drag negativity into the present. Dwelling on whathadhappened or whatmightwas useless. When he broke the hug, Keon brushed at the fresh tears on Eliseo’s cheeks. “When you return, I’d like to get to know you as my brother.”
“I’d be honoured.”
Keon opened his clenched fist to reveal the pouch, its strap looped around his finger. “You should have this,” he said, feeling better, knowing love had existed between Eliseo and Simeon. “Weston says this is…all they recovered from the raid.”
Eyes widening in understanding, Eliseo tugged his sleeves to his elbow, extending one hand to take the pouch. “They didn’t have time to bring him home,” he recalled, pulling the string to open the bag.
“Cowards, every one,” Keon confessed, the need to apologise burning his throat. “Simeon was a big man, heavy, and they were in trouble. They abandoned him. One of the wounded men tried to hide him, intending to get help.”
The poor man had died of his injuries moments after dropping the token into Weston’s hand. He was the one who had put it into a pouch, not knowing who to return it to.
Keon rubbed Eliseo’s arm, as he stared at the pouch, afraid to look. “When he couldn’t pull Simeon to safety, he took this, intending to return it to his true mate, if they came forward,” he said, gesturing to the pouch. “I’m grateful to whoever returned his body in the days after.”
Eliseo wet his lips and tipped the contents of the pouch into his free hand. More tears welled as a leather cufflet fell onto his palm. He tucked the pouch into his pocket and tapped the matching cufflet on his left wrist.
“Simeon stole these from Grier’s house,” he said, with a wry smile. “They’re part of the pack’s history. He wanted us to wear them in proof of our bond. One no one else would understand, but we would. Though it didn’t do us much good.”
“He kept it,” Keon reminded him, curious about the sentimentality in Eliseo’s eyes. “He wore it to his last breath, despite your fight.”
Eliseo brushed a thumb over the leather, tarnished with wear and tear.
“Do you want to keep it?” Keon whispered, giving him the choice.
A tear dropped as Eliseo lifted his covered wrist to let Keon secure the leather strap beside its mate.
“This may be all you have left…whether you move on and find love or a mate in the future…but, let this be a reminder of how strong you are. Of what you’ve survived. Never forget you have the capacity to love sincerely and deeply,” he said, though his heart broke at the similarities to the mating ceremony Eliseo had never had.
